Unforgettable
by Friendsfan
Summary: What if Steve Ramsey had brought a gun to school? The outcome is this story, R?R!CH.3 UP! COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

The gunshots erupted at 9:35 on a Monday morning- a day Joan would never forget. Supposedly just a normal day in English, but turned out to be a tragic day nobody was ever going to forget.  
  
There was chaos as everybody was running out of the classrooms, to the nearest exit, to try and get out of the school. Joan ran out with Adam but lost him in the crowd. She was having trouble thinking, everything was happening too fast. People were being shot, blood was everywhere, and Joan couldn't stop worrying about her mom and younger brother-she hoped they were safe. As she ran through the halls she could see people lying on the floor with blood around them. Joan ducked into a spare classroom, having no chance of escaping-the exit was just too far to attempt it. Grace was sitting on the floor, looking unfazed face looking pale. Joan sat beside her. They sat quietly for a few minutes,and then Grace ventured to talk to her. "I bet Luke and your Mom are fine." Joan looked at her. "You think so?" "I know so." Grace replied. Joan tried to find the words to say to her, but all that could come out was a simple, "Thanks."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The police office was unusally quiet as Will Girardi was working at his desk. "Will?" a young police officer asked. "Yes?" he replied. "You may want to sit down for this- a school shooting has erupted in Arcadia High." Will rubbed his forhead. "Did I just hear you right?" The police officer nodded his head solemnly. "All right," Will said, his voice rising. "I want a negotiater in the building as fast as you can, I want four police cars on the school grounds, and.. bring an ambulance too." Will didn't want to think of the impossible- that three people he loved most in the world were in the building. They were going to get them out. Will picked up the phone to call Kevin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hello?" Kevin asked. "Kev, listen-you need to get down here right away." "Why, Dad. What's going on?" There was a hesitation on the phone. "There's been a school shooting at Arcadia High." Kevin cursed and promised he'd be there. There was no way that he was going to lose his family- not if his Dad could help it. 


	2. Unforgettable Ch2

Unforgettable Chapter 2.  
  
The shots rang out, louder and faster than before. Joan covered her ears as tears ran down her cheeks.  
  
"God, help me. Help us. Let my family be safe and let Dad solve this as fast as he can." she repeated this over and over to herself. Why was God doing this to her and her school? He was supposed to be saint, and no matter how hard some things were from her to learn from, nothing had ever been as bad as it was this. God, some of her classmates were lying in the hallways, dead. She even thought she had seen Glynnis lying there, and wondered how she was going to tell Luke.  
  
Her thoughts ran again to her family. Her façade crumbled as she realised that Ramsey (she recognised his voice), could kill her, or Luke, or Helen before her Dad could get there. She loved her family so much- Kevin, who was the best big brother ever. He was so easy to talk to, and she remembered how scared and alone she felt the night of her brother's accident. Did Kevin feel the same way now?  
  
Luke- her younger brother who made school so much easier. Both not being the most popular at school helped them to find things in common with. Her Dad- who was everything to Joan. He was easy to talk to and listened often, never once stereotyping her. She loved him so much-he was her hero.  
  
Her Mom-who was her world. Soft, gentle, but such a strong woman. It had been so hard for her to tell Joan about the rape- but she had, and they had gotten through it together. Joan loved her mom so much, and knew she didn't say it to her as much as she would have liked to.  
  
Grace looked at Joan, curled up in a ball, uncertain of what to do. Finally she handed her a tissue. Joan laughed and cried at the same time- Grace had handed her a tissue to make up their first fight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Many people had run out from Arcadia High. Will surveyed the crowd as he stood near the property. Joan. Helen. Luke. Kevin wheeled himself quickly towards Will. "Any news?" he asked anxiously. He didn't want to sound scared, but the actual fact was that he was terrified. Suddenly Will spotted Helen, and shouted her name. Helen looked over and her face crumpled. She ran into Will's arms, and then hugged Kevin tightly. Helen looked around. "Where's Joan? and Luke?" Kevin's face looked solemn as Will said gently, "They haven't come out yet." "Wait," Kevin pointed out. "Isn't that him? With Adam?" Helen sighed with relief as Will ran out and got them. Helen hugged both of them tightly. "Hey buddy," Kevin said, and hugged Luke. Kevin gave Adam a handshake. Adam looked around. "Where's Jane?" Tears ran down Helen's face as she replied, "She's still inside." "Do something Dad,"Kevin begged. "I'm working on it, son. I've got a negotiator on the way, don't worry. Joan is fine, okay?" The uncertainty of that was kicking in, though.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ramsey entered their classroom with a few of the students. "Sit down, now." he said, in a stern, don't-mess-with-me, voice." All of you are going to listen up, or else you'll get shot with my nice handy gun. Now won't that be nice?" Joan closed her eyes and wept quietly. All she wanted to know was if her mom, brother and Adam were alright. This was going to take awhile, and she was terrified of the thought of being shot. She had her whole life to fulfill still. "Please God. Don't do this. Save me. Please." 


	3. Unforgettable Ch3

The school phone rang as everybody looked up. Joan looked persistantly at Ramsey. "Pick it up, pick it up," she silently begged. Needless to say, after the third ring, he picked it up. "Hello?" Ramsey asked. "This is Brian Geller. I just want to talk to you, Ramsey." "I don't want to talk to you-you're just some stupid negotiator person. I've got people scared to death here because of me, and I like that feeling." Ramsey turned on the speakerphone, and walked around room and motioned to Joan to go with him to the front of the room. "I've even got the police chief's daughter with me-Joan Girardi."  
  
Brian was silent for a moment as he stood outside the school beside the Girardi family. (Adam had gone home with his father.) Joan could here her mother's crying from the phone reception, as fresh tears ran down her face. She was alive. Ramsey pointed the gun at Joan's forhead. She could feel the cold metal on her skin, and was so afraid she couldn't think. Was this what her Dad had felt like? Joan darted her eyes to look at Grace, who had a few tears running down her cheek. Grace-the solid one, who most of the time didn't seem to have a care in the world.  
  
"Ramsey." Brian's voice was calm, strong, but persistant. "We'll give you everything you want, we're here to help you. Killing isn't the answer, especially not these young people. You all have parents and friends that care about you." The words sounded comforting to Joan, as she came to the sudden realization that the negotiator was God.  
  
"Come out Ramsey, come out, please." Brian said. "You're still a child, would you really want to be known as a child-killer?" Ramsey's face crumpled as he dug the gun deeper into Joan. Her breathing became shallow. "Nobody has ever cared about me before. How will that change?" "I've talked with your father and he's assured me that he'll do whatever it takes for you to become a better man. He does love you, Ramsey. He always has. He's just had a hard time putting it into words." Brian looked at the Girardi family waiting beside him and gave them a thumbs up. Kevin started to smile, but Helen, Will, and Luke were mainly in shock still.  
  
Ramsey sighed, and let go of Joan. Joan shakily walked back to her place beside Grace, and then almost-collapsed with relief. "I..I'm glad you're alright," Grace said. Joan tried to smile. "I know, Grace. I know." "Thank you God. Now help get us out of here. Please. I need to tell my family how much they mean to me."  
  
Ramsey shouted to the class, "Go! Before I change my minds." He was still talking to Brian about his father, but in-between tears realised he couldn't kill those teenagers-he didn't want to live his life in jail.  
  
Joan looked at Ramsey incredulously, but than Grace pulled her away and they ran as fast as they could to the exit. The door burst open as the twenty-something kids ran outside. Joan searched for her family, and spotted them nearby. Thankfully, both Helen and Luke had made it out alive. Both of them were sobbing, as they held eachother tight. Finally, Joan pulled away. "I love you Mom." "Oh sweetie," Helen replied. "I love you too."  
  
Still crying, Joan went into the arms of her father. "You saved my life, Dad." "I had to, you're my only daughter." Joan squeezed him harder. "I love you so much," she managed to get out. "I'll always love you too, Joan." he said, tears running down his face also. This had been a hard time for him, a day he was never going to forget.  
  
Joan turned to her brothers. Her little brother, Luke. He smiled at her as he grabbed her in a hug. "I was so worried," she said. "All I could think about were you and mom, and whether you had made it out alive or not." "Here I am," he said. "I was worried, too, Joan. Love you." Joan managed to laugh and cry at the same time as she said affectionatly, "I love you too."  
  
She turned to her older brother Kevin, who had tears in his eyes watching the reunion. "I think I know how you felt during the night of my accident," he said, "it was torture. Pure hell. I felt the same way today Joan. It made me realize how much I love you and this family." Joan cried again as she hugged Kevin tightly. "Thanks, Kev."  
  
Joan took a deep breath as she looked around and saw Grace nearby. "I'll just be a mintue Dad, okay?" He smiled at Joan, looked at Grace, and then kissed Joan's forhead. "We'll wait in the car, honey." Helen came and kissed Joan too. "We're going to get through this, sweetie. Together." Joan half-smiled. "Thanks Mom-for everything." She watched them walk to the car, Helen and Will holding hands with Luke and Kevin in front of them.  
  
"Hey," she said quietly as she walked over to Grace. "Are you okay?" Grace shrugged. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I know how you feel," Joan said softly. "We knew people that got killed. So many people.." Grace looked at Joan. "I'm glad you're alive, Girardi." Joan smiled. "Thanks. I'd better get going, my family's waiting. Where's yours?" "They'll get here soon," Grace said. For a second the two girls looked at eachother, then hugged quickly. "We'll get together tomorrow," Joan said. "Bye Grace."  
  
Joan sat beside Kevin and Luke in their car. "Mom? Do you know if Adam made it out okay?" Helen smiled. "He did, he said he'd call you tonight." Joan shook with relief. "By the way, Joan- he called you Jane." Kevin said, and winked at her.  
  
Driving home to her house, Joan smiled- it was going to be a hard road to deal with it but at least she could with her family. 


End file.
